of prisoners by the contractors. in afghanistan it's reported that human rights violations and even killings are committed by security firms on a regular basis to an extent to undermine call the show horses counterinsurgency efforts they'll start firing at anything that moves they will injure or kill innocent afghans and they'll destroy property. we're getting fairly consistent complaints about them everybody knows somebody who's been shot by the contract is the lack of accountability has forced the united nations working group on mercenaries to push for specific international measures to regulate their activities especially now as u.s. military forces withdraw from iraq and afghanistan the number of contractors is set to grow dramatically us. so many of the military and security functions to these security companies they are not

regulated and they are not control and he says we're extremely concerned that what we are calling is for relation to the national and at the international level so that. companies are accountable but washington is reluctant to lead an international body regulate their activities saying it will find ways to hold contractors accountable but so far the u.s. justice system has largely failed to do so we're seeing around the world cases of kidnapping rape murder. and we see very very only very rare cases in which there's actually a criminal investigation or prosecution of sing out of the boat but experts say further privatization of war is convenient for the american government because among other reasons it doesn't have to justify the deaths of troops at home the president whoever the president may be can get us involved in conflicts only using

uniform forces to do the official fighting and then thousands and thousands of contractors to do the unofficial fighting that's under the radar screen that isn't covered by the media now here is a quote we cannot win a fight for hearts and minds when we outsource critical missions took on. a noble contractors and of quote that's what senator obama said before he became president but apparently as a president now he thinks differently with the contractors role in america's wars bound to increase and with the victims of their crimes still begging for justice i'm going to check out reporting from washington our team. for more on how private armies operate in war zones so we can talk to sterling jensen who worked in iraq from two thousand and six through two thousand and eight as a contract interpreter and civilian officer for the u.s. marines. thank you for joining us today so you've worked in iraq and as we all will know for years now there's been some wild and grim accusations about these

mercenaries so what's your experience of working with the private contractors that . when i was that my first experience was in two thousand and six when i was an interpreter i work with the army and sometimes when you go to main cities or you need people to pick you you didn't have your personal security detail which is usually the military with you if if people like blackwater were working as contractors for the u.s. embassy or for some of the u.s. troops then they would pick you up and take you to the places you needed to go if you didn't if you're flying by helicopter or something like that but that was in two thousand and six two thousand and seven when there was much more use of you know the private private kind of security contractors for transportation. which if we can if we can just just just steer away from the idea of just driving your around i mean there are all these wild accusations that these are trigger happy

contractors is not a fair description. i wouldn't say trigger happy in the sense that they're just out to kill people that's all they want to do i just believe that you know there's more that tougher bunch maybe people that were you know used to be in this in special forces or they used to be you know and the more rigorous. you know ranks of the of the soldiers i mean they're very dear they're very disciplined but i wouldn't say they're exactly just trigger happy that i think there is professionals possible but if they are in a situation if they feel that they can you know they have you know the right to you know do what they feel needs to happen they'll shoot you do you think but you think is it is there a way of sort of is there a difference between how the local population interacts with foreign troops versus contractors. definitely i mean people don't like the foreign troops they don't like to see it for and you know a uniform but they know that the foreign uniform has certain regulations that are

a lot more stricter i mean they represent a country rather than representing a company and so you know i think on the whole you definitely have a u.s. soldier that's a lot more you know careful about you know when he uses his rules of engagement than a security contractor at least that's what it was you know two thousand and six two thousand up until now that they're working under a security agreement rather than normalized relations which would be different with the with the u.s. embassies personal security contractors after two thousand and eleven so as you suggest the uniform so uniform most soldiers are kept on a tight leash as opposed to the contractors but as we were just reporting the gradual u.s. military pullout is seeing a swap with private contractors why does the u.s. want to keep private armies on the ground in iraq and afghanistan. well i mean it's a good it's a good question for rock i mean the troops are going from fifty thousand you know just under fifty thousand right now to nothing basically you know by the end of the

year and so this is you know the embassy doesn't rely on the military for their security after two thousand and eleven for the military to do that they need to sign a new security agreement because they are u.s. forces have rules of engagement in iraq right now where they can defend themselves without getting prosecuted by the iraqi courts because of the security agreement that the iraqi government right now is trying to sign that either a new agreement which i doubt they'll do but they'll come up with some type of memorandum of agreement to have trainers in iraq in two thousand and twelve and beyond but those trainers aren't going to be authorized to protect you know security you know the embassy personnel the embassy has to make its own agreements with the it with the government of iraq and so part of those agreements have been ok well we want six thousand or so if that's at that about how many it is personal security contractors that are signed with the different ministries to give us protection these are just basically say you know security companies like if i may just jump in just just for a moment here i think i think it's

a lot to be said for. a profit when it when there are when there is a military presence in iraq and afghanistan do you think i mean is there a recognition of the defense industry is almost in bed with with former soldiers as you were saying for all from the special elite squads you know who stands to profit from having these elite special forces under the radar in these conflict zones. you definitely have some security contract droops that are going to take advantage of the need for security in countries that i mean it's just market but the thing is i don't think that you can describe it as the security companies in bed with with with with the ministry of defense because the ministry defense is reducing its full its presence from you know right now thirty thousand troops and i'm sure that the u.s. government if the iraqi government asked the u.s. government to to have more forces in iraq they would do it and they would benefit more than the security companies would i mean i don't think you can say that just

because you're using security contractors in iraq. that means that they're in bed with the ministry of you know with the defense department i mean you're going to definitely have contra contracting companies like you know the former blackwater and others trying to get these contracts but it it's not it's not that they are in bed with it with them and it's with the defense department or defense starting jensen very insightful because a contracting topic for a couple of years recently in iraq thank you very much. well in a short while here on our we're in kiev where they're keeping the faith church leaders from a former soviet states have gathered together to mark ancient russia's adoption of christianity. and where money grows on trees dodgy disaster cleanup firms and russia's forests who are making cash among. you all with r.t. now norway's intelligence services says there's no evidence that is connected to

far right extremists in norway or anywhere else the thirty two year old who admits killing seventy six people last friday claims he was part of a wider mission his lawyer insists that but i think is insane and didn't know what he was doing because r.t. is a law and the report says and the immigration message is one that has chilling echoes all across europe. and ethnic hatred that led to the slaughter of schools of innocent young people and does prevent the massacre to which he freely admits was a justified strike against the political left for supporting open borders and multiculturalism and even though the staunchest of hardliners condemn brave fix horrific actions anti immigration sentiment is growing across europe and other groups express their condolences and then are quick and separate themselves from are also quick to lay blame left wing politicians which they. are responsible

because they allowed immigration happen and effectively pushed the sky to the edge it's a cry that many feel is not being heard by european governments as people show their discontent voting increasingly for previously marginal anti immigration policies and joining street movements like the anti islamic english defense league. of course you will have groups who are satisfied and you will have other groups who see that the governments are not doing enough. discussing the issues enough. in this going forward in the future i think there's more the attacks will bring this topic into the center of the attention again and they will force. officials as well as public to focus on these issues again the move towards nationalism is pan european as well as the b.n.p. making gains in the u.k. holland's controversial good builders now leads the country's third largest

political party running on an anti islam platform nationalists to truth in its redrew the political landscape this year when they won nearly twenty percent of the vote the danish people's party has also embraced anti immigration policies successfully lobbying for denmark to close its previously open borders with germany and sweden there's grass roots support for braving to disturbingly depicted on the internet by some extremists as a hero three thousand people voted for his video manifesto on you tube and his group knights templar became a popular search topic on google i'm quite concerned that there are a lot of individuals. privates writing this manifesto will resonate with. i'm very concerned that you will see other people copycatting these types of attacks in the coming months or coming years politicians including germany's angela

merkel and britain's david cameron have already said multiculturalism has failed now the leaders of western europe have to stop their disenfranchised cities becoming a breeding ground for far right. who lit the fuse and those brave it claims to have been involved with the english defense league which pledges to protect england from what it calls a wave of islamic the case said the a.d.l. denies the link but political analysts are saying if b. attacks to. no way don't prompt an honest appraisal of the n.c.s. surrounding immigration that could that frustrate the european public and create more space for potentially violent far right groups to expand day before they figure no ran a party runs it. it's on a quarter past the hour here in moscow you with r.t. britain now officially recognizes libya's rebels as the legitimate government and as expelled colonel gadhafi is diplomats it's also unfreezing one hundred fifty

million dollars of libyan oil assets to help fund the rebels tripoli insists it will not enter peace talks to end the four months long civil war until nato stops its airstrikes u.n. talks with the rebels in benghazi are also making little progress towards a cease fire professor mark almond from oxford university things there won't be the dramatic collapse of could have his regime which nato expected and hoped for. additionally britain has recognized governments not on the basis of what we like but on what will they control the territory the state cardassian running lost control of parts of the folk clearly the rebels don't control it yet so this is a starting a new precedent after all the dangerous one the other problem is that the rebels on the ground seem to stall even with the nato bombing raids. if you remember when this started more than four months ago we were told it would be mushroom weeks months and so our spec really what we have paid british forces which is doing is really having a symbolic act to try to show that somehow or other we're still in charge of the

situation but i think the situation is increasingly unpredictable the real problem with nato is little less they have a lucky strike because they've tried several times i think to decapitate cargo injuring by bombing places where they thought it was the chances are that the won't be a dramatic collapse of his regime survived the first shocking act and so now the question is will the rebels have sufficient resources to push on through the two months for fighting it's difficult to to avoid. the crisis and abuse in certain great deal of our toils and one of the problems has been that the rebels thought that very quickly they would get hold of the oil assets to turn all exports into money have been able to operate the oil fields with or for if they feel they need money to maintain their forces because a they need money for the social services such as well but also they need money relief of buy support and i'm afraid one subterranean aspect of this conflict is feed side pays for must make you have

a lot about colonel gadhafi and his supporters. are the rebels fight in return for cash and of course there's no cash flow from but they don't like it and this is one reason why canada is also who are better motivated maybe better paid have actually been able to resist rather more effectively comparison london expected in practice the symbolic decision to recognize rebels kick out gadhafi is departs from under masks and in a deep barracks and indeed a strategic crisis or the nato countries but by britain terms. all right let's check out some other world news for you here at this hour the mayor of the volatile afghan city of kandahar has been assassinated after a suicide bomber detonated explosives hidden inside his turban it's the latest in a series of killings targeting the country's top officials earlier this month president karzai and his senior aide were gunned down in separate attacks at the bottom comes now as nato combat troops begin to withdraw from afghanistan. the

white house is threatening that president obama could veto the republican debt limit plan and speaker john boehner wants to cut public spending and raise the limit congress now has less than one week to raise the country's multi-trillion dollar debt ceiling if it was to avoid a potentially devastating default obama blames republicans for stalling and refusing to accept a balanced approach. human rights groups say syrian security forces of killed eight people in a damascus suburb residents responded by throwing stones and closing roads with piles of burning tires several people were wounded in the raid that happened after electricity and phone services were cut off in the area over fifteen hundred people have been killed across the country since the brutal government crackdown started four months ago. while religious leaders from post soviet nations are uniting in ukraine to celebrate the christianized nation of ancient russia ukraine's capital

kiev used to be the center of the ancient state when it turned to author book see more than a thousand years ago. is following the colorful festivities. the head of the russian orthodox church but there are a few real has a right to the gradient he have to take part in the celebrations along with his counterpart from georgia and the head of the russian orthodox church in ukraine. it's been exactly one thousand and twenty three years since this part of the world adopted orthodox christianity. now when sharkey real arrived at the solemn liturgy in front of the. monument in kiev the central monument dedicated to the baptism to the adoption of christianity in this part of the world he was greeted by tens of thousands of people who were chanting that our part is real well clearly this shows that the the attitude towards russia and ukraine is still very warm and he is being

greeted here with much respect lately kiev has been named as one of the single capitals of the russian orthodox church along with moscow and st petersburg it is interesting because of course capital of a sovereign state of ukraine and this means that the russian orthodox church goes beyond the borders to unite the clergy in the space it is a large scale celebration which is being held in the capitals of ukraine belarus and russia kiev minsk and moscow when they stand at the celebration events will be happening within the next couple of days with concerts large concerts culminating in the festivities in the three capitals. going to be reporting right to had to come for more on any of the news you need around the clock just a click away online right now we investigate the rise in suicides in post tsunami japan as thousands find it too much to cope with the aftermath of the disaster.

and the russian the manhunt for husbands with women and vastly outnumber men by literally millions we report on an unusual matrimonial rent a giant soda teton called. russia's green forest seeing some people carve out a shady career illegal logging is growing. on a boy who explains the exploitation begins when natural disaster. fire has long had a reputation. of a bad master but in russia these days it's increasingly being used as a good servant with flames terrorizing the country's forests every summer some unscrupulous and trapper naras have come to use it as a smokescreen for illegal logging the problem reached such proportions that even the government has realized the chips are down. in some regions considered at risk of heavy forest fires illegal logging is thriving they cut down more than through

oist than the area is set ablaze to cover their crime nobody can determine how much logging was sanctioned and how much was actually cut the. fires hurricanes flooding come what may illegal loggers are using all sorts of natural disasters to cover their tracks. these routes new st petersburg fowl and the path of a major with her last year it uprooted thousands of hectares of mature forest many more were chopped after wards by swindlers like these ones who managed to secure a permit for the hurricane cleanup. mr they've got a permit that allows them to take away three truckloads of debris a job that could be done in a few days but their permit is valid for three weeks i'm sure you can easily guess to rest on a par with the amazon rain forest the vast siberian greenery is often referred to as the lungs of the planet a close examination though it's guards all over the place most of the illegal

siberian timber goes to china and while the locals already see the impact of deforestation on their own lives they see their only other option would be far worse. you know it's illegal what you're doing. i know it's illegal but there are no other jobs here. the government officials who are to turn to for comment say the state is doing everything it can to combat illegal logging new legislation has just come into force the number of forest rangers will be increased if you get in the meantime the chiefs are still thought well they may according to x. powers if the they've been ability to see the wood for the trees that is one of the main reasons why illegal logging in russia is so widespread and why it is so prone to any sort of punitive action while the federal authorities make. they practiced all they want the current economic and regulatory environment ultimately makes

pundak think chopping of trees from a lucrative and easy to carry out then doing it the legal way kind of artsy. fartsy many times the business with kareena in just a few moments but i must warn you that we are few minutes away from a fantastic interview meeting the man who inspired the movement to save the planet from the moon but for now in just a moment kareen is here with the business. of a come to business here in r.t. thanks for watching us. start with our top story russia's leading gold produce supporters gold has been taken over by its london based subsidiary cuz that gold the new company under the name of his gold international started trading all of the london stock exchange on wednesday and mother's love of capital says the unusual reverse takeover could impact the new groups have value. this is

a river of. gold which is a limited company has gone and pulled out his parents which is fairly unusual and it looks like he wants to continue doing that as a process to expand going forward this kind of reverse takeover can dampen shareholder value in the in the near term and shareholder performance as well and having looked at the recent performance of. gold has been on the performers royal's considerably despite the price of gold increasing on the upside. take a look at the markets now gold is trading at all time high levels as investors are looking for safe haven due to the uncertainty over u.s. debt recently and silver is also gaining it's up over one percent the sell meanwhile wrangling over the u.s. debt ceiling sheeps all in the red light sweet is moving over the sour u.s. stocks opened lower as the political stalemate over the nation's debt limit continues that's up to the government reported that orders for durable goods felt

in june the nasdaq composite index down thirty five points or one point two percent and the europe markets are lower with washington's debt problems affecting invest in companies as well stocks in london and down led by lloyds banking group police and world bank of scotland that's up to goldman sachs downgraded being the pin banking sector shares of insurers are also down that bieber dropped two percent so was admiral group of illegal general group that dropped one percent respectively came in russia markets retreated from early gains with my six losing over half a percent as well fell the rest as are cautious avoiding risk moves ahead of economic reports and critical decision making to wes let's take a look at some individuals on the bisects right now all majors are under pressure amid weak accrued lukoil losing almost eight percent of our precious metal miners among the main game is helped by stronger gold polymath was up three percent this hour to be getting around point seven percent supported by news it may soon acquire

another twenty percent of bank of moscow. that's all the best us about that for this hour but i'll be back in about forty five minutes stay with us for headlines with boy up next hungry for the full story we've got it from. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. for

the full story we've got. the biggest issues get a human voice ceased to face with the news makers.

from moscow the story of a top story notorious american security goes on trial but overbilling the government killing civilians in iraq and despite claims of atrocities against innocent people the u.s. resorts to using more contractors on foreign missions. the intelligence says the far right suspect who admitted deadly terrorist attacks that claimed seventy six

lives alone and growing in nationalistic. britain is officially recognizing libya's opposition as the country's legitimate leaders and a stepping up the diplomatic offensive against colonel gadhafi it's also unfreezing one hundred fifty million dollars of libyan oil assets to help fund the rebels. those are the headlines. though i do stay with us one of the first man to ever get up close and personal with the moon. and his much celebrated. people to start the planet that interview.

i understand you very much for being with us today it's a great pleasure and an honor nice to be with you soldiers all right so apollo eight commander frank berman and common command module pilot jim lovell have flown more hours than any other. when they tap on you well i was the rookie. but it turns out that none of us had ridden on the saturn five so we were all right rookies for saturn five and we were all rookies for a trip away from the earth with a lot of screaming and shouting during the six and a half days no not screaming and shouting you didn't have to in a spacecraft to reach at our jobs level was basically the navigator and i was the systems engineer and copilot looked at the shot actually frank borman no. i think it's been. definitely proven that i took the shot but i think played more might have taken the first one but unfortunately he didn't use color film and.